Lancers suffer double knockout against Rams
This time, there would be no rally.
This time, for the first time in half a decade, the truth was told on the court and in the final score line.
This time, the Windsor Lancers were not the best team.
It’s been a longtime since anyone could even suggest that, let alone prove it. A total of 1,611 days, to be precise. That’s how long the Lancers have reigned over CIS women’s basketball, but today, the reality is that the Bronze Baby may no longer be their baby.
The five-time defending CIS champion Lancers were humbled 79-62 by the Ryerson Rams in their OUA semifinal game Friday in Ottawa. Windsor, OUA champions in six of the previous seven years, will face the McMaster Marauders in Saturday’s bronze-medal game.
There was no joy to be had in Toronto either, where the Lancer men, also up against the Rams, entered the hostile environment of Ryerson’s Mattamy Athletic Centre and suffered a 96-77 setback in Friday’s semifinal matchup.
Both teams could still get to the CIS tournament via an at-large berth, but they’ll have to win their bronze-medal games Saturday to maintain that hope.
In the men’s game, Windsor actually led 37-36 at one point in the first half but the young Lancers, with just one fifth-year player, current CIS male athlete of the week Alex Campbell, were ultimately outgunned by the top- seeded Rams, who also beat Windsor 8268 in last year’s CIS quarter-finals.
Interim coach Ryan Steer praised his inexperienced team’s work ethic earlier in the week.
“These guys have made it easy on me this year,” Steer said. “All I can ask for from them is that they compete every single day.
“It’s a great feeling to be behind the bench and coaching guys who are giving 110 per cent every single day and leaving everything on the floor.”
Windsor will play Ottawa in Saturday’s men’s bronze-medal game.
In last year’s OUA women’s final, Windsor dropped Ryerson 71-51, but this time around the roles and the final score, were reversed.
The elements that made the Lancer women such a powerhouse squad — depth, quickness, stifling defence, and relentless determina- tion — were evident in Windsor’s game, but on this occasion, it was the Rams who brought the fury.
Sixth-seeded Windsor rallied from a halftime deficit to defeat the third-seeded Carleton Ravens in quarter-final action last week, also in Ottawa, but there was never a sense that Windsor was going to be able to carve a way back from the 11-point disadvantage the Lancers faced at halftime against Ryerson.
With eight newcomers in the lineup, Windsor was going to need big games out of each of its four veterans — forwards, Emily Prevost and Cheyanne Roger and guards Caitlyn Longmuir and Carly Steer.
They were a fantastic four during the Lancers’ win at Carleton, contributing all but seven of Windsor’s points. Counting on that spectacular a performance two weeks in a row was probably asking too much.
It may take the Lancers some time to sit back and appreciate all that this team has accomplished. Windsor and the 1975-79 Laurentian Voyageurs are the only squads to ever win five consecutive CIS women’s basketball championships.